The Battle at St. Croix was fought during Father Le Loutre's War between Gorham's Rangers and Mi'kmaq at Battle Hill in the community of St. Croix, Nova Scotia. The battle lasted from March 20–23, 1750. Historical context Despite the British Conquest of Acadia in 1710, Nova Scotia remained primarily occupied by Catholic Acadians and Mi'kmaq. By the time Edward Cornwallis had arrived in Halifax, there was a long history of the Wabanaki Confederacy (which included the Mi'kmaq) resisting British colonization along the New England–Acadia border in Maine by attacking colonial settlements (See the Northeast Coast Campaigns 1688, 1703, 1723, 1724, 1745, 1746, 1747). To prevent the establishment of Protestant settlements in the region, the Mi'kmaq raided the early British settlements of present-day Shelburne (1715) and Canso (1720). A generation later, Father Le Loutre's War began when Edward Cornwallis arrived to establish Halifax with 13 transports on June 21, 1749. Within 18 months of establishing Halifax, the British also took firm control of the Nova Scotia peninsula by building fortifications in all the major Acadian communities: present-day Windsor (Fort Edward), Grand Pre (Fort Vieux Logis) and Chignecto (Fort Lawrence). (A British fort already existed at the other major Acadian center of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Cobequid remained without a fort.) Nevertheless, there were still numerous Mi'kmaq and Acadian raids on these fortifications. On September 30, 1749, prior to the battle, about forty Mi'kmaq attacked six men who were cutting trees at a saw mill in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Four of them were killed on the spot, one was taken prisoner and one escaped. Two of the men were scalped, and the heads of the others were cut off. A detachment of rangers was sent after the raiding party and cut off the heads of two Mi'kmaq and scalped one. On October 2, 1749, in response to the raid in Dartmouth, Cornwallis created an extirpation proclamation. The Siege of Grand Pre was the first recorded conflict after the proclamation of Cornwallis' bounty. In early March 1750, the Acadians and Mi'kmaq took three English prisoners. Gorham was ordered to Fort Edward. The Battle at St. Croix occurred when New England Rangers were en route to Grand Pre to arrest the Acadians who had supported the siege and the taking of the three prisoners. Battle On December 17, upon recently building a road from Halifax to Grand Pre, Cornwallis ordered Gorham to clear the